3 Layered Tunisian Tagine Food

HOW TO MAKE TAGINE

Steps:

• Tagine isn't part of the codified French cuisine, nor is it something you'll find at traditional French restaurants, either in France or abroad.But given the estimated five million people of North African descent who live in France, and the excellence of the dish - soft chunks of meat, vegetables or a combination, deeply scented with spices and often lightly sweetened with fruit - it is no surprise that tagine has taken hold. A centerpiece of the chicest dinner parties, the dish exemplifies a modern wave of French home cooking, one that is exploring a host of diverse influences beyond the country's usual repertoire. Perhaps one reason the tagine has taken hold in France is that the dish is very similar to a French ragout, a slowly simmered stew of meat and vegetables. But while a ragout nearly always calls for a significant amount of wine (and often broth), to help braise the meat, a tagine needs very little additional liquid. This is because of the pot - also called a tagine - used to prepare the dish. With its tightfitting, cone-shaped lid, a tagine steams the stew as it cooks, catching the rising, aromatic vapor and allowing it to drip back over the ingredients, thereby bathing them in their own juices. (A Dutch oven with a tightfitting lid will accomplish nearly the same thing.)The intensity of the spicing also sets the tagine apart from a ragout, which tends to use aromatics rather than ground spices for flavor. But a heady mix of spices, called ras el hanout, is at the heart of a good tagine. In North Africa, each cook traditionally makes his or her own often highly complex spice blend. In our tagine recipe, we use a very simple mixture of spices that are easy to find.Cooks preparing a tagine usually strive for a balance of sweet and savory. That is why you see spices like ginger, cinnamon or clove used to bring out the sweetness of the meat, alongside braised fruit (apricots, prunes or raisins) and savory seasonings (parsley, pepper or saffron). The dish is usually served with flatbread for dipping in the complex and fragrant sauce.
• The tagine is a Moroccan dish, though it is common throughout the North African region known as the Maghreb, which also includes Algeria and Tunisia. The earliest versions, recorded in the 10th century, represent the intersection of two cultures: those of the native Berbers and of the Muslim Arabs of the conquest. When the spices of the Middle East met the stews of the indigenous Berber cuisine, the tagine was born.Those spices and tastes had entered Middle Eastern cuisine with the spread of Islam across the broader region, which absorbed the flavors of its expanding territories. In the seventh century, as the capital of the Muslim Caliphate moved from Mecca to Damascus, Muslims met Greeks and Romans, Egyptians, Persians and Franks across the Arabian desert. Cinnamon and cardamom were added to the pantry. In the eighth century, the capital moved again, this time to Baghdad, and by the ninth century, the cuisine had become saturated with spices and full of elaborate and highly embellished dishes. It was common among the wealthy to use at least two dozen different spices and half a dozen herbs in one dish, not to mention dried fruit, nuts, honey, flowers and perfumed essences, like orange blossom water.Those ingredients gradually found their way to the Maghreb, heavily influencing the local cuisine, including what would become the tagine. Although contemporary North African cooking is somewhat stripped down from its ornate past, many of those perfumed, spiced and honeyed flavors remain.Food from the Maghreb first surfaced in France in the mid-19th century, after France conquered Algeria in 1830, later annexing Tunisia and Morocco. French domination of the region lasted until 1955, when Morocco gained independence, followed by Tunisia in 1956 and Algeria in 1962.The cuisine truly gained a foothold in France during the immigration surge of the 1970s, when the French government admitted large numbers of North Africans, who settled in subsidized housing in banlieues (suburbs). Restaurants serving tagines and couscous started popping up in and around large cities in France, particularly Paris and Marseille. And the spicy lamb sausages called merguez were turned into a street food snack, stuffed into a baguette and topped with French fries (known as merguez frites).As the French developed a taste for North African food (which is called cuisine Maghrébin), chefs and cookbook authors began translating the recipes, and cooks flocked to the kitchen.Above, a man holding up a tagine at a Moroccan pottery stall in 1933.
• Tagine or Dutch oven A tagine is the traditional clay cooking vessel for the dish; it has a base that is wider than its tall, cone-shape top. But you don't need a tagine to make this recipe. Use a Dutch oven or another lidded pot instead, as long as the lid fits tightly. If it doesn't, cover the pot with foil before placing the lid on top.Tongs A tagine, like most braises, starts with the browning of the meat. A good pair of tongs will help you maneuver the lamb as you sear it in the pot.Small skillet Sliced almonds, which are used in the topping, will toast quickly and evenly in a small skillet. Choose a heavy-duty one so you won't get a hot spot, which could burn the nuts.Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has a guide to the best Dutch ovens and nonstick pans.
• Although you can make tagine with any meat, fish or vegetable, lamb adds heady flavor to this complex stew. Here, dried apricots, cinnamon, nutmeg and almonds provide sweetness, while saffron, turmeric, tomato paste and herbs make it deeply savory. The result is a stunning centerpiece of a dish, one that begs to be piled onto your most beautiful platter before serving.
• The gorgeous aromas and flavors of a tagine are what set it apart from all other stews. Choose and use your spices with care, and take time to fully brown the meat.• Fresh spices are integral to getting an intensely flavored sauce. To tell if your spices are fresh, smell them. Empty a bit into the palm of your hand; if it isn't noticeably fragrant, then it won't add noticeable flavor to the tagine. If you are pressed for time and have only stale spices, add a little more than what the recipe calls for.• It is often more economical to shop at a spice retailer. They tend to grind the spices more frequently on site, which means that they are not only fresher when you buy them, will also last longer in your pantry.• Some recipes use ras el hanout, a North African spice mix that contains black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin, mace, paprika and turmeric, among other spices. Each mix is different and contains up to 30 different spices. Here, we make our own simplified version. Do not substitute another ras el hanout blend for our mixture; each blend is unique and can be quite different, so it may not work well in this recipe. (Most Moroccan cookbooks give their own instructions for ras el hanout, and then tailor their recipes to it.) Toasting the spices adds yet another layer of flavor.• Both ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks are used in our recipe. They have slightly different flavors and work together for a more nuanced cinnamon taste in both the meat and the sauce. • The contrast of sweet and savory is a hallmark of North African cuisine. Tagine recipes commonly include some kind of dried fruit to supply that sweetness. Here, we use apricots, which are tart as well as sweet. Raisins, prunes and dates are other options.• Taking a moment to cook the tomato paste in oil before adding liquid caramelizes the paste, enriching its flavor. It also rids the tomato paste of any metallic taste, which can be a problem with canned paste.• Adding half the herbs at the beginning of cooking and half at the end gives the tagine both depth of flavor and a pop of freshness.• Personalize this recipe to suit your tastes. Use bone-in beef instead of lamb for a less gamy and slightly sweeter flavor. (Beef can have more fat, so make the tagine a day ahead, chill it, then remove excess fat from the surface.) Swap in raisins, prunes or dates for the apricots. Chunks or slices of winter squash lend a delicate, velvety sweetness; add them during the last 45 minutes of cooking, along with a few tablespoons of water if the pot looks dry.• Bone-in lamb gives this tagine a rich sauce, thanks to the marrow content of the bones, along with plenty of soft, succulent meat. Lamb neck, if you can get it, is particularly juicy.• Salting the lamb ahead of time helps the seasoning penetrate the meat, flavoring it thoroughly. While even an hour makes a difference, if you have time, you can salt the meat up to 24 hours ahead.• Browning the meat gives the sauce a deeper flavor. Take your time doing this. Let each piece brown fully on all sides, and use tongs to hold up the meat if necessary, to brown the irregularly shaped pieces.• Tagines are generally served with flatbread for dipping in all the lovely sauce. You can use any type of flatbread - pita bread works nicely - served either at room temperature or warmed up so it is pliable. If you warm the bread, keep it wrapped in a clean cloth so it retains the heat.• You can also serve your tagine with couscous, either on the side or spread in a shallow platter with the tagine poured on top. Polenta is another good, though unorthodox, option.
• There are countless tagine variations, with cooks personalizing the recipe to suit their tastes. Feel free to come up with your own combinations. Use beef instead of lamb for a less gamy and slightly sweeter flavor. Choose bone-in cuts such as shanks or short ribs. Beef can have a higher fat content than lamb, so if you do make the substitution, cook the tagine the day before serving, then scoop off the fat from the surface before reheating.You can use any dried fruit here instead of apricots. Sweet jammy dates are a more intensely sugary substitute, and they are highly traditional. Golden raisins are a more tart option. Figs, prunes and dark raisins can also be used.Feel free to add vegetables to the tagine if you like. Chunks or slices of winter squash, either peeled or not, lend a delicate, velvety sweetness. Other options include eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. Add them to the pot during the last 45 minutes of cooking, along with a few tablespoons of water if the pot looks dry when you put them in.
• Photography Food styling: Alison Attenborough. Prop styling: Beverley Hyde. Additional photography: Karsten Moran for The New York Times. Additional styling: Jade Zimmerman. Video Food styling: Chris Barsch and Jade Zimmerman. Art direction: Alex Brannian. Prop styling: Catherine Pearson. Director of photography: James Herron. Camera operators: Tim Wu and Zack Sainz. Editing: Will Lloyd and Adam Saewitz. Additional editing: Meg Felling.
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TUNISIAN FISH TAGINE

Steps:

• Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes over low heat. Grind to a powder in a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder and set aside.
• Seed the chilies and cut into julienne strips.
• Place half of the olive oil in one large frypan and half in a nonstick pan with a lid. Put the potato into the nonstick pan. Add the tumeric and fry, tossing and turning the potatoes.
• At the same time in the other pan, fry the onion and celery, stirring occasionally. When the onion begins to soften, add the garlic, lime leaves, chiles, cumin, paprika and saffron. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes, then season lightly with salt and pepper and turn off the heat. Leave in the pan while the potatoes finish cooking.
• As soon as the potatoes are cooked, season the fish steaks with salt and pepper and put them on top of the potatoes. Spoon the onion mixture over and around the steaks and pour over the tomatoes. Bring to boil over a medium-high heat, immediately lower it and cover. Cook gently for 7-10 minutes or until the fish is just cooked. Taste and season.
• Serve in large warmed bowl, sprinkled with cilantro.

TUNISIAN TAGINE

Steps:

• Boil 2 eggs for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Peel and chop potatoes. Fry in olive oil with salt, turmeric and cumin.
• Fry onions lightly, then add ground meat , if you are using it, and some salt. Let fry for a few minutes, then add harissa to taste and some water. Let simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Add some of the parsley and let cool.
• Prepare the rest of the vegetables.
• Peel and chop the boiled eggs.
• Mix vegetables, meat, potatoes, boiled eggs and about 4 ounces of the cheese in a bowl. Add the six raw eggs, salt, turmeric, cumin and crushed coriander seeds (and more harissa if you wish).
• Pour vegetable oil in an oven proof dish and pour mixture into it. Place remaining cheese on top.
• Bake in 350 F oven (medium heat) for 20-30 minutes.
• Cut into pieces and serve.

TAJINE MALSOUKA -- TUNISIAN CHICKEN 'TAGINE' PHYLLO PIE

Steps:

• In a frying pan, fry the onion in a little of the vegetable oil for a few minutes until it is softened. Add the chicken & the water, cover then cook for 45 minutes in a medium heat or until the chicken is cooken through, turning the thighs from time to time.
• Preheat oven to 190c / 375f/ GM5.
• Discard the chicken skin, remove the meat from the bones & place the pieces in a bowl.
• Pour the saffron or ground nutmeg paste over the chicken, then stir in the grated cheese and 2-3 tbsp of water to make an 'unctous mixture'. Stir in the beaten eggs & season with the salt & pepper to taste.
• Generously oil an ovenproof pie or quiche dish about the same zie as the rounds of phyllo. Overlap 5 sheets so that at least 1/3 of the phyllo is allowed to hang over the sides of the dish, remembering to lightly brush each sheet with the vegetable oil. Place a final 6th piece of phyllo over the top of the others - this one should be central so that it reinforces the base a little.
• Pour in most of the chicken mixture, followed by a layer of sliced ricotta then a final layer of the chicken.
• Fold the overhanging phyllo pastry over the top so that is wrapped but not too tight. Stick the edges together using a pastry brush & the glaze. Place another sheet of phyllo on top, tucking the edges into the dish, followed by 4 more sheets of phyllo, being sure to brush them with the glaze as you go. Finish by brushing more g;ase on the top.
• Place the tagine on a low shelf in the oven for around 20-25 minutes. The pastry should be crisp & deep golden when the dish is ready.
• Serve hot, on a flat dish & cut into slices as you would a cake.

3 LAYERED TUNISIAN TAGINE

Steps:

• Place a baking mold (10 to 15 inches) with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the oven at 350°F/180°C.
• Fry in a pan onion until translucent.
• Add ground meat and cook stirring continuously until through.
• Remove from heat and add the other ingredients listed in the ground meat base.
• Take 1/3 of the lower base mix and add the other ingredients for the lower level. Mix with the spoon. Check salt and pepper!
• Take mold out and poor this first mixture. Spread with the spatula.
• Bake 10 minutes at 180°C During this time prepare the middle layer.
• Note: Heat and timing are basing it on convection oven. Cooking time depends from the size of the baking mold as well.
• For the middle layer take another third of the mixture. Add cheeses and egg. Also here mix with the spoon. Check salt and pepper!
• When the lower lever is firm poor the second level on it. Use the spatula.
• Bake other 10 minutes or so until firm. During this time prepare the upper layer.
• For the upper lever take the remaining third, add parsley and eggs. Mix with the spoon and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
• Bake other 10-15 minutes or so until firm. Check with the knife if through.
• When ready let it sit for at least 20 minutes prior cutting.
• Serve and enjoy.
• Note if you have a smaller mold the cooking time will rise as the tagine will be thicken.
• Note: Feel free to change or add ingredients to your own taste.